Bagel Art! How to food style a bagel.

Here are some “how to” photos explaining the process of shaping a few of the above bagels. I talked about them a little in a video I posted on Instagram. In the video, you see all the bagels before they were cooked.

I decided to put my professional chef and food stylist skills to the test at home. The challenge in food styling bread or bagel dough is that you have to work fast. While the dough is rising, your time for food photography is limited. Dough is not like an apple which looks the same after hours of sitting at room temperature.

As a chef, my goal was to build more surface area on the outside of the bagel:

Reasoning:

More Surface Area = More Toasting Surface = More Flavor

As a food stylist, my goal was to create unique bagels for production in a gourmet kitchen:

Challenge:

Yeast In Dough + Taking Photos = Use Cold Water To Slow Rising Process

This would be a great Valentine's Day addition at a country club.

Imagine pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, Fontinella cheese and prosciutto served to you in this bagel Yes Yes Yes!

This bagel shape could definitely be used at an upscale-contemporary or organic-vegan restaurant. Very trendy!

I hope you've enjoyed looking at the photos, and try some of my food-styling tips and techniques next time you make bagels.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Enjoy!